CL 

A\?.8K 

SUPPLEMENT 

The  IDaine  Bulletin 

Entered  at  the  Post  Office  at  Orono  as  second-class  matter 

Vol,  VII  University  of  Maine,  Orono,  October,  1904  No,  2 


Dedication  of  Holmes  Hall 


Contents 


Historical  Sketch  of  Experiment  Station 3 

Description  of  Holmes  Hall 4 

Account  of  Dedicatory  Exercises 5 

Address  of  Hon.  A.  W.  Gilman 5 

Address  of  Hon.  S.  L.  Boardman ...  8 


I Illustrations 


Dr.  Ezekiel  Holmes 2 

Experiment  Station,  1888 4 

Holmes  Hall,  1904  20 


Dr.  Ezekiel  Holmes 


Historical  Sketch 


The  Maine  Fertilizer  Control  and  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  was  established  by  the  Maine  legislature  of  1885,  which 
appropriated  the  sum  of  $5,000  a year  for  its  maintenance.  No 
provision,  however,  was  made  for  a building  for  its  accommoda- 
tion, so  the  trustees  of  the  University  of  Maine  offered  it 
quarters,  although  it  was  established  as  an  independent  institu- 
tion, and  the  Board  of  Managers  gladly  accepted  the  offer.  A 
laboratory  was  provided  in  Fernald  Hall  and  an  office  in 
Wingate  Hall — the  wooden  building,  since  burned,  which  stood 
where  the  present  Wingate  Hall  is  located.  This  State  Station 
was  maintained  until  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  Hatch 
Bill  in  1887  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  University  the  sum  of 
$15,000  annually  for  the  maintenance  of  an  Agricultural  Ex- 
periment Station,  after  which  it  was  discontinued. 

The  increase  in  the  funds  available  for  the  support  of  a 
station  permitted  a considerable  increase  in  the  staff  of  in- 
vestigation, and  a consequent  increase  in  its  work,  which  made 
increased  laboratory  and  office  facilities  imperative.  To  meet 
this  demand,  the  trustees  of  the  University  decided  to  erect  a new 
building  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Station,  to  be  located  upon 
the  slight  elevation  to  the  east  of  Coburn  Hall,  one  of  the  very 
best  sites  upon  the  campus.  This  building  was  constructed  in 
1887  according  to  plans  drawn  by  Frank  E.  Kidder,  a graduate 
of  the  University  in  the  class  of  1879.  The  main  building  was 
39  by  26^/2  feet,  two  stories  in  height,  with  a one-story  ell,  20 
by  22  feet.  It  was  built  of  brick  with  granite  trimmings. 

With  further  increase  in  the  work  of  the  Station,  it  became 
necessary  to  enlarge  the  building,  and  this  was  done  in  1899, 
by  adding  a wing  to  the  south  side,  thus  providing  much 
needed  space  for  a food  laboratory  and  the  director’s  office. 
In  the  latter  is  placed  the  greater  part  of  the  station  library 
of  about  1,700  volumes. 


4 


Description  op  Holmes  Hall 
Symmetry  was  restored  to  the  building  in  1903-04  by  the 
erection  of  a wing  on  the  north  side,  22  by  46  feet,  which 
provides  recitation  rooms  for  the  departments  of  agriculture, 
horticulture,  and  forestry.  The  second  floor  may  be  divided 
into  two  rooms  or  thrown  into  one  by  a rolling  shutter.  At  the 
same  time  the  ell  was  carried  up  another  story  and  widened 
upon  the  north  side  to  fill  in  the  space  between  the  ell  and  the 
new  wing,  permitting  a rearrangement  of  rooms,  so  the  main 
building  now  contains  on  the  first  floor  the  laboratory  for  the 


Experiment  Station,  1888 

analysis  of  feeds  and  fertilizers,  the  nitrogen  room,  a room 
for  the  storage  of  chemicals,  a food  laboratory,  and  offices  of  the 
chemists  and  veterinarian.  On  the  second  floor  are  rooms  for 
the  professor  of  agriculture,  the  entomologist,  the  stenographer, 
a mailing  and  reading  room,  and  a telephone  room. 

The  basement  contains  the  boiler  and  coal  rooms,  a kitchen 
used  in  connection  with  nutrition  investigations,  a calorimeter 
room,  a gas  room,  and  rooms  for  the  grinding  and  preparation 
of  samples.  In  the  attic  are  quarters  for  the  janitor,  a photo- 
graphic dark  room,  and  a storage  room.  The  building  is  heated 
by  steam,  lighted  by  electricity,  and  furnished  with  gas.  The 
total  cost  is  somewhat  in  excess  of  $18,000. 


5 


The  recent  additions  gave  a dignified  building,  designed  and 
erected  for  agricultural  investigation  and  instruction,  and  it 
seemed  to.  the  trustees  of  the  University  to  be  eminently  fitting 
that  it  should  bear  the  name  of  one  whose  life  had  been  given 
to  the  promotion  of  these  objects,  all  of  whose  fruitful  years 
were  passed  in  the  State  of  Maine,  especially  as  the  last  public 
appearance  of  his  life  was  in  connection  with  the  fight  he  was 
leading  to  secure  the  establishment  of  the  University  of  Maine 
as  an  independent  institution. 

Program  or  the  Dedication 
The  dedicatory  exercises  were  held  Wednesday,  May  25, 
1904.  During  the  day  the  grounds,  buildings,  and  appliances 
of  the  College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Experiment  Station  were 
open  for  inspection.  A review  of  the  University  Cadet  Battalion 
was  held  on  Alumni  Field  at  11.00  A.  M.  The  dedicatory 
exercises  proper  were  held  in  Alumni  Hall  at  1.30  P.  M. 
President  Fellows  presided  and  spoke  briefly  of  the  work  of 
the  University  along  agricultural  lines,  mentioning  by  name 
a large  number  of  alumni  who  are  engaged  in  agricultural 
investigation.  The  other  speakers  were  President  Butterfield 
of  the  Rhode  Island  College;  Hon.  A.  W.  Gilman,  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture,  and  Hon.  S.  L.  Boardman,  a former 
Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  and  in  his  early 
years  a business  associate  and  personal  friend  of  Dr.  Holmes. 
The  addresses  of  Mr.  Gilman  and  Mr.  Boardman  merit 
publication  by  the  University  in  such  shape  as  will  give  them 
a wide  distribution  among  its  alumni  and  throughout  the  State. 

Address  oe  Hon.  A.  W.  Gieman 
“Holmes  Hall  commemorates  a distinct  step  forward  in  the 
relation  of  the  State  to  the  education  of  the  farmers,  and 
in  its  present  purpose  voices  anew  Maine’s  purpose  to  educate 
for  their  calling  those  engaged  in  her  foundation  industry,  and 
is  a visible  evidence  of  her  faith  in  agricultural  education. 

“It  is  eminently  fitting  that  the  trustees  and  faculty  of  this 
institution  should  perpetuate  the  name  of  Maine’s  great  distin- 
guished and  first  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture. 

“If  there  has  been  any  irresolution  or  any  uncertainty  in  the 
past  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  State  toward  the  higher  technical 
education  of  her  farmers  it  has  passed,  and  Maine  stands  irrev- 


6 


ocably  pledged  to  the  purposes  of  the  founders  of  these  institu- 
tions. 

“This  fixed  purpose  will  ere  long  dispel  open  hostilities,  the 
least  dangerous  of  its  opposing  forces,  and  eventually  destroy 
those  more  insidious  foes  who,  whether  from  within  or  without, 
disparage  the  purposes  of  its  founders  and  seek  under  one  guise 
or  another  to  divert  it  from  its  true  and  high  destiny. 

“What  were  the  aims  of  its  founders  ? Congress  in  providing 
for  these  colleges  said  in  the  act  that  gave  them  life, — ‘The 
leading  object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other  scientific  and 
classical  studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such 
branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  of  the  State 
may  prescribe,  in  order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical 
education  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and 
professions  of  life/ 

“The  debate  in  Congress  showed  that  the  main  aim  was  in 
accordance  with  the  opening  words,  and  that  a greater  breadth 
was  given  by  amendments  to  assist  the  states  that  were  de- 
ficient in  the  number  of  schools  that  offered  the  advantages 
of  a higher  education.  New  England  had  no  such  necessities. 
Years  after,  the  appropriation  of  $25,000  annually  for  agricul- 
tural colleges  was  made  more  limited  in  scope,  as  some  states 
abused  the  law.  The  language  specifically  limits  by  the  word 
‘only’  the  use  of  these  new  funds,  saying  ‘to  be  applied  only 
to  instruction  in  agriculture,  the  mechanic  arts,  the  English 
language  and  the  various  branches  of  mathematical,  physical, 
natural  and  economic  science,  with  special  reference  to  their 
applications  to  the  industries  of  life  and  to  the  facilities  for 
such  instruction/  There  is  very  little  provided  for  in  this  act 
not  essential  to  an  agricultural  course. 

“Since  the  passage  of  these  acts  of  Congress  there  has  been 
a growing  perception  of  the  profound  relation  of  agricultural 
education  to  the  higher  interests  of  society  and  a rising  tide  of 
public  conviction  that  the  leading  objects  of  these  colleges  were 
named  in  their  true  order,  agriculture  being  first  as  it  is  first  in 
importance.  At  the  present  time  agriculture  in  Maine  does  not 
occupy  a field  of  less  importance  than  that  attached  to  it  by 
Congress  for  the  whole  country.  Our  State  occupies  a splendid 
and  beautiful  domain,  being  greater  in  area  than  the  rest  of 


7 


New  England  and  greater  still  in  agricultural  possibility,  even 
rivaling  the  agricultural  states  of  the  West  in  its  possibilities 
and  exceeding  them  in  its  opportunities.  Her  picturesque  hills 
and  valleys,  her  stimulating  climate,  her  well-watered  surface, 
her  resourceful  and  abiding  soil,  situated  in  the  midst  of  the 
varied  arts  that  have  builded  splendid  markets,  will  make  and 
hold  for  Maine  agriculture  a very  high  and  honorable  position. 

“The  annual  products  of  Maine  farms  are  valued  at  $37,113,- 
469,  and  this  does  not  include  millions  more  in  the  use  of  homes 
and  sundry  farm  resources.  Her  farms,  cattle  and  machinery 
are  valued  at  $122,410,904,  represented  by  59,294  farms. 

“History  informs  us  that  between  the  educated  and  uneducated 
states  of  the  nation  and  between  the  educated  and  uneducated 
countries  of  Europe  there  is  a variation  of  more  than  100  per 
cent  in  the  yield  of  crops.  A change  of  five  per  cent  in  the 
yield  of  our  crops  means  a gain  annually  of  nearly  $2,000,000. 

“We  expect  this  College  to  determine  the  character  and  lift 
the  level  of  all  other  agricultural  educational  forces.  It  is  con- 
ceivable that  the  influence  of  this  College  inspired  by  agricul- 
tural education  and  zeal  may  lift  the  returns  eventually  to  far 
higher  results,  and  do  more  for  the  wealth  and  culture  of  the 
State  than  any  other  force.  It  touches  the  principal  source  of 
wealth. 

“For  the  present,  at  least,  the  greatest  good  that  this  institu- 
tion will  or  can  do  will  not  consist  in  the  facts  that  it  imparts 
but  in  the  purpose  that  it  infuses  into  the  souls  of  its  students. 

“It  was  this  unbounded  faith  that  the  leadership  of  the  Minne- 
sota state  farms  school  had  in  agriculture  that  placed  over  7,000 
students  in  her  agricultural  halls,  and  in  Wisconsin  a like  spirit 
has  rolled  up  thousands.  The  opinion  now  prevails  among  the 
best  of  educators  that  agriculture,  dealing  as  it  does  with  the 
fundamental  forces  of  nature,  is  at  once  the  most  interesting 
and  the  profoundest  of  industrial,  professional  and  intellectual 
problems.  The  agriculturalist  must  deal  with  the  forces  of 
nature,  with  men  in  trade  and  labor,  with  machinery  in  its  most 
varied  form  working  in  the  most  difficult  conditions,  while  he 
is  called  upon  for  the  mental  faculties  to  handle  these  forces, 
and  for  a variety  of  bodily  energy  that  develops  him  as  none 
other  can. 


8 


“Farming  gives  needed  repose  essential  to  a sane  life,  while 
tending  to  develop  the  best  that  is  in  a man.  I know  of  no  spot 
more  inviting  than  our  own  dear  Pine  Tree  State  for  youths 
about  to  enter  life’s  field  of  action.  Our  soil  yields  readily  to 
high  skill,  and  invites  it.  I congratulate  this  Faculty  in  having 
behind  it  such  an  agricultural  state  and  constituency  both  able 
and  willing  to  supply  every  legitimate  need  of  the  institution. 

“If  I have  not  spoken  so  much  in  praise  of  the  other  courses 
of  study  in  this  College  it  is  not  from  lack  of  loyalty  to  the  Uni- 
versity. I yield  to  no  one  in  my  zeal  for  its  highest  interests. 
If  I have  manifested  a special  interest  in  the  agricultural  feature 
it  is  because  I believe  most  sincerely  that  Maine’s  highest  inter- 
ests are  involved  in  making  this  department  as  strong  and  use- 
ful as  it  is  possible.  I speak  not  for  rural  Maine  but  for  the 
interests  of  all.  There  is  no  veiled  hostility  to  other  industries 
not  otherwise  educationally  provided  for.  But  this,  our  only 
agricultural  school  in  the  state,  with  agricultural  possibilities 
beyond  our  dreams,  should  be,  as  no  doubt  it  is  intended  that  it 
shall  be,  in  full  keeping  with  the  organic  law  founding  it  and  the 
highest  interests  of  the  State. 

“The  normal  school  just  established  by  the  present  legislature, 
in  as  desirable  an  agricultural  district  as  any  in  this  Union,  will 
not,  in  my  judgment,  do  its  fullest  duty  to  the  State  until  it 
establishes  an  agricultural  course ; the  State  thus  educating 
teachers  to  teach  elementary  agriculture  in  its  rural  schools. 

“I  venture  the  assertion  that  this  University,  associated ' with 
proper  agricultural  environment,  will  not  be  wanting  in 
necessary  State  appropriatons  to  further  advance  the  work  of 
education.” 

Address  of  Hon.  S.  L.  Boardman 

“Looking  at  this  audience,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen, 
I infer  that  he  in  whose  honor  we  meet  today  and  to  whose 
memory  this  beautiful  and  appropriate  building  is  to  be  dedi- 
cated, is  to  most  of  you  only  a name.  To  a few  he  may 
possibly  be  a memory.  In  the  passage  of  more  than  a genera- 
tion so  many  changes  occur  that  it  is  likely  but  one  or  two  here 
recall  his  form  and  appearance.  To  all  others  he  is  unknown. 
Ask  any  one  of  the  539  undergraduates  of  your  University, 
Mr.  President,  “Who  was  Ezekiel  Holmes?”  and  the  answer 


9 


would  probably  be,  “I  do  not  know.”  And  yet,  had  he  not 
lived  and  wrought,  had  he  not  contended  for  you  who  are 
now  here,  before  the  creative  legal  body  of  the  State — the 
legislature  of  Maine — while  your  fathers  were  yet  boys  or 
were  unborn,  this  splendid  University  with  its  faculty  of  65 
professors  and  instructors ; with  its  more  than  30  buildings 
appropriated  to  university  uses,  with  their  libraries,  collections, 
museums,  laboratories,  apparatus  and  equipment,  and  with 
an  alumni  numbering  858  educated  people,  scores  of  whom 
are  in  important  positions  of  influence  and  responsibility  all 
over  the  country  and  in  other  lands — all  these  would  not  have 
been.  Your  University  would  have  been  an  indifferent  annex 
to  a larger  and  dominating  college.  The  “new  learning,”  of 
which  your  institution  has  been  so  long  a most  efficient  ex- 
ponent, would  have  made  little  progress  when  directed  and 
guided  by  the  spirit  of  the  old  scholastic  colleges,  bound  to  the 
educational  traditions  of  centuries.  The  few  special  students 
it  would  have  had,  those  taking  the  distinctive  courses  which 
now  make  your  curriculum,  would  always  have  been  in  social 
conflict  with  the  superior  tone  of  those  wedded  to  the  old 
methods  and  pursuing  the  more  dignified,  more  exclusive  and 
more  useless  courses  of  the  classical  college. 

“Long  before  the  White  and  Goddard  farms  had  been  given 
by  the  towns  of  Orono  and  Old  Town,  for  the  site  of  this 
University,  he  of  whom  we  are  to  learn  something  today,  was 
your  friend.  Before  one  brick  had  been  laid  upon  another  of 
the  many  beautiful  structures  which  now  adorn  your  campus,  he 
had  made  these  buildings  possible.  You  have  here  your  Coburn, 
your  Fernald,  your  Oak  and  your  Wingate  halls — names  that 
will  perpetuate  to  coming  time  the  splendid  services  of  the 
benefactors  of  your  University.  It  is  well.  I would  not  oblit- 
erate a single  letter  from  the  facade  of  any  one  of  these  buildings. 
The  friends  of  this  institution  whose  names  they  bear  well 
earned  the  honor  and  deserve  the  distinction.  That  plain  man 
of  the  people,  who,  without  ordinary  schooling  became 
a millionaire  and  governor  of  Maine,  who  held  this  institution 
close  to  his  heart,  worked  for  it,  loved  it  and  bequeathed  to  it  the 
magnificent  endowment  of  $100,000 — Abner  Coburn;  that  wise 
and  conservative  legislator  and  publicist,  a man  of  sterling  char- 
acter and  abounding  integrity,  for  years  one  of  the  careful, 


10 


prudent  trustees  of  this  University,  Lyndon  Oak ; that  sagacious 
man  of  affairs  who  devoted  years  to  the  upbuilding  of  this  insti- 
tution during  the  early  and  dark  days  of  its  history,  who  was 
for  years  the  president  of  its  board  of  trustees  and  did  more 
work  than  any  other  official  in  superintending  the  erection  of 
many  of  your  buildings,  William  P.  Wingate,  and  that  man  who 
has  the  honor  of  being  the  first  president  of  its  faculty  and  who 
was  for  years  almost  its  entire  faculty,  the  only  one  of  those 
mentioned  who  has  lived  to  see  the  present  noble  position  of  the 
University  of  Maine,  Merritt  C.  Fernald — these  men  are  all  those 
of  the  original  faith,  the  foundation  disciples  of  the  new  educa- 
tion and  their  names  should  ever  be  held  in  high  honor  in  the 
annals  of  your  University.  Nor  should  I omit  from  this  list  of 
your  benefactors  that  name  which  one  of  your  new  buildings, 
not  yet  completed,  is  to  bear  in  honor  of  a gentleman  who  has 
long  been  your  loyal  friend  and  for  many  years  as  now,  the 
efficient  president  of  your  board  of  trustees — Henry  Lord. 

“It  is  a splendid  thing,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  for  a 
man  to  receive  recognition.  Yet  how  often,  in  the  affairs  of 
this  world,  the  recognition  is  so  tardy  in  its  coming.  Seldom  in 
one’s  lifetime  does  a man  who  has  done  noble  deeds  or  per- 
formed worthy  service  receive  the  full  measure  of  a just 
recognition.  It  is  generally  from  a succeeding  age,  from  a gen- 
eration that  knew  him  not,  that  the  philanthropist  and  bene- 
factor of  his  kind  must  win  the  fame  that  is  his  rightful  inherit- 
ance. Had  Ezekiel  Holmes  received  the  recognition  that  was 
his  due,  the  first  building  erected  upon  this  campus  would  have 
borne  his  name ; his  birthday  anniversary  would  have  been 
observed  each  year  by  your  official  boards  and  his  memory 
honored  in  some  manner  of  just  acknowledgment  by  your 
undergraduates.  As  it  is,  all  living  in  Maine  today  who  knew 
him,  will  rejoice  that  at  last  he  who  was  the  real  founder  of  this 
University  in  its  own  grand  individuality  has  been  rediscovered, 
or  in  the  modern  phrase,  has  arrived. 

“Ezekiel  Holmes  came  of  a splendid  ancestry  of  the  Puritan 
commonwealth.  He  was  born  in  Kingston,  Mass.,  Aug.  21, 
t8oi.  He  entered  Brown  university  when  only  17  years  of  age, 
graduating  in  1821,  and  from  the  medical  school  of  Bowdoin 
college  in  1824.  He  died  at  Winthrop,  Feb.  9,  1865. 


II 


“I  am  not  to  weafy  you,  my  friends,  with  the  long  array  of 
facts  in  his  life  between  these  intervening  dates.  These  belong 
to  his  biography  which  will  sometime  be  written,  while 
today  I am  only  to  speak  of  an  interesting  incident  in  his  life — 
that  relating  more  especially  to  the  founding  of  your  University. 
But  in  passing  them  I ask  you  to  consider  for  a moment  the 
work  he  accomplished  in  that  life  of  40  years ; what  a range  of 
subjects  investigated  and  discussed,  what  a mastery  of  the  nat- 
ural sciences,  what  a devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  the  people 
of  Maine.  For  five  years  a professor  of  agriculture  and 
natural  history  of  the  Gardiner  Lyceum,  the  first  agricul- 
tural school  in  all  North  America,  established  40  years  before 
the  Morrill  land  grant  bill  made  possible  the  founding  of  this 
University;  for  four  years  professor  of  natural  history  and 
director  of  the  workshops  in  Waterville  College;  founder  and 
first  secretary  of  the  Maine  Board  of  Agriculture ; founder  and 
first  secretary  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society ; the  first  person 
to  explore  and  report  upon  the  physical  features  and  resources 
of  our  now  magnificent  county  of  Aroostook  which  he  did  so 
early  as  1838,  recommending  at  that  time  that  the  State  establish 
an  experimental  farm  upon  the  fertile  soil  of  the  Aroostook  river 
valley ; for  six  years  a representative  and  for  two  years  a sen- 
ator in  the  legislature  of  Maine;  twice  nominated  as  governor 
of  the  State  on  the  Liberty  or  Anti-Slavery  party  ticket  (the 
cradle-party  of  the  great  Republican  organization)  at  a time 
when  it  counted  against  a man  most  heavily  in  social  standing 
and  popular  support  to  accept  the  position  of  its  standard-bearer ; 
chief  and  naturalist  of  the  scientific  survey  of  Maine ; for  nearly 
33  years  editor  of  the  Maine  Farmer;  lecturer  before  lyceums 
and  public  gatherings  of  farmers,  without  number,  before  the 
days  of  our  present  farmers’  institutes ; author  of  many  books 
and  scientific  treatises  and  for  many  years  a practicing  physician, 
visiting  the  sick  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  ‘without 
money  and  without  price.’  Complete  this  outline,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent and  gentlemen,  fill  in  the  years  of  constant  application,  the 
details  of  thought  and  study,  the  wonderful  results  achieved 
for  our  agriculture  and  for  the  good  of  our  State  and  you  will 
have  some  conception  of  the  life-work  of  the  man  whose  name 
you  bestow  upon  this  building  today. 


12 


“I  have  often  wondered,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  what 
would  have  been  the  condition  of  the  agriculture  of  Maine  and 
of  its  slow  and  imperfect  development,  had  it  not  been  for 
Ezekiel  Holmes.  That  he  came  to  Maine,  married  a Maine 
girl  and  settled  here  for  his  home  and  his  lifework,  may  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  best  things  that  ever  took  place  in  the 
industrial  history  of  the  State.  To  be  sure,  it  may  have  been 
that  some  other  man  might  have  appeared,  80  years  ago,  who 
would  have  been  the  leader  of  the  farmers  of  that  day  and 
guided  them  through  a great  deal  of  ignorance,  some  supersti- 
tion, and  much  prejudice  against  book-learning,  to  the  realms 
of  a future  period  in  their  history  bright  with  the  illumination 
of  science ; but  whom  he  could  have  been,  the  list  of  the  greatest 
names  among  them,  as  we  recall  them  upon  the  pages  of  our 
agricultural  record,  fails  to  disclose.  There  were  remarkable 
men  in  the  locality  in  which  Ezekiel  Holmes  made  his 
residence;  men  in  advance  of  their  day  in  intelligence  and 
foresight  regarding  our  agricultural  progress.  Among  the 
great  names  of  that  period  were  those  of  Benjamin  Vaughan, 
the  friend  and  correspondent  of  Franklin,  and  of  his  brother, 
Charles  Vaughan;  Sylvester  Gardiner;  Robert  Hallowell 
Gardiner;  Benjamin  Hale;  the  brothers,  Samuel  and  Elijah 
Wood;  Sanford  Howard,  afterward  editor  of  the  American 
Cultivator ; Henry  Dearborn ; Payne  Wingate ; Richard  H. 
Green,  and  Jesse  Robinson.  One  was  their  leader,  the  first  in 
all  plans  for  an  intelligent  agriculture  in  Maine,  Ezekiel 
Holmes. 

“The  first  agricultural  school  in  the  new  world,  the  Gardiner 
Lyceum,  established  by  the  legislature  of  Maine  the  very  year 
after  it  became  a state  and  of  whose  faculty  Ezekiel  Holmes 
was  for  five  years  a member,  had  for  its  object — I read  from 
its  petition  to  the  legislature — ‘To  give  mechanics  and  farmers 
such  a scientific  education  as  will  enable  them  to  become 
skilled  in  their  professions.’  The  language  of  the  Morrill 
act  of  1862,  in  regard  to  the  objects  of  your  University  is  that 
‘without  excluding  other  scientific  and  classical  studies  * * * 

it  shall  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agricul- 
ture and  the  mechanic  arts.’  Is  not  the  earlier  a better 
statement  than  the  latter  of  what  this  College  of  Agrculture 
of  your  University  was  founded  to  accomplish — a formula 


13 


framed  by  Ezekiel  Holmes  and  of  which  he  was  a life-long 
advocate  ? 

“When  there  were  but  two  agricultural  societies  in  all  North 
America,  one  was  in  the  home- town  of  Dr.  Holmes,  (the  first 
in  all  New  England),  the  other  in  Pennsylvania.  The  farmers 
in  that  town,  under  his  leadership,  imported  seed  wheat  from 
Virginia  and  from  Spain ; published  the  first  treatise  ever 
printed  ini  New  England  on  sheep  husbandry  of  which  he 
was  the  author;  offered  premiums  for  growing  the  largest 
crops  and  raising  the  best  stock ; encouraged  the  invention 
of  the  first  horse-power  machine  for  threshing  grain,  and 
established  the  Maine  Farmer,  of  which  for  more  than  30 
years  he  was  the  editor,  the  motto  of  which  ‘Our  Home,  Our 
Country  and  our  Brother  Man’,  his  own  motto,  is  its  motto 
today.  Dr.  Holmes  was  the  first  person  in  Maine  to  introduce 
the  thoroughbred  Shorthorns,  the  first  thoroughbred  Cotswold 
and  Southdown  sheep  and  the  first  thoroughbred  Jerseys. 
Had  he  done  nothing  in  his  whole  public  life  but  to  have  edited 
the  Maine  Farmer — holding  aloft  the  torchlight  of  agricultural 
progress  of  the  farmers  of  the  State  through  the  formative 
years  of  our  better  and  more  thorough  agricultural  methods, 
his  name  and  memory  would  deserve  to  be  forever  held  in  grate- 
ful remembrance. 

“Dr  Holmes  was  one  of  the  most  learned  men  our  State  ever 
had,  especially  in  the  scientific  and  natural  history  branches 
of  the  knowledge  of  his  day.  He  knew  every  bird  that  came 
to  Maine  with  the  opening  of  the  crocuses  and  departed  with 
the  coming  of  autumn ; he  knew  every  fish  whose  home  was 
in  our  rivers,  along  our  sea  coast  or  in  the  waters  of  our 
beautiful  lakes;  he  was  well  informed  in  the  history  and  prac- 
tice of  the  agriculture  of  all  times  and  of  all  countries ; he 
was  familiar  with  every  rock  and  quarry  and  mineral  which 
our  soil  held  and  was  the  discoverer  of  the  rare  tourmalines 
and  other  gems  at  Mt.  Mica  in  Paris,  specimens  of  which 
enrich  the  cabinets  of  the  great  museums  of  continental  Europe 
and  have  given  world-wide  fame  to  our  State ; he  was  a master 
of  comparative  anatomy  and  knew  animals  and  man  as  few  stu- 
dents of  medicine  have  known  them;  he  knew  every  plant  and 
wild  flower  of  Maine  from  the  mighty  pine  of  our  hills  to  the 
hyssop  growing  in  the  crannies  of  the  wall ; he  knew  more  of  the 


14 


principles  of  mechanics  and  their  application  to  the  practices 
of  the  farm  than  any  man  before  him  or  of  his  day;  he  had  a 
wider  and  more  thorough  knowledge  of  our  soils,  our  crops, 
our  agricultural  methods  than  any  man  we  have  had  among  us 
for  three  generations;  he  answered  more  scientific  questions 
through  the  columns  of  his  paper  and  by  a large  private  cor- 
respondence with  people  in  and  out  of  the  State  than  any  one  of 
whom  I have  any  knowledge ; he  understood  the  people  of  Maine 
better,  got  nearer  to  them  in  their  everyday  lives,  became  more 
interested  in  what  they  were  doing  and  in  that  in  which  they 
were  interested  than  any  person  of  his  own  time  or  of  our  time ; 
he  won  their  confidence  and  they  trusted  him  as  a leader  to  a 
greater  degree  than  they  have  trusted  any  other  leader  who  has 
ever  come  after  him  in  the  special  lines  with  which  he  was 
identified. 

“Throughout  his  long  life,  Dr.  Holmes  was  never  known  to 
think  of  himself.  He  was  unselfish  and  benevolent  even  to 
improvidence.  He  was  never  self-seeking  for  any  position  or 
for  any  preferment.  He  helped  those  in  misfortune,  or  in  want, 
or  when  struggling  with  adversity,  to  his  own  injury.  With  no 
flour  in  his  house  for  tomorrow’s  loaf,  he  would  give  the  last 
dollar  in  his  pocket  to  a poor  widow,  a boy  struggling  for  an 
education,  an  inventor  trying  to  get  recognition  for  some  new 
patent  or  for  some  machine  for  the  improvement  of  work  done 
by  hands.  He  prescribed  for  the  sick  of  his  town  for  a lifetime, 
without  pay  and  never  thought  of  asking  a fee  for  advice  or  for 
counsel  which,  had  it  been  given,  would  have  made  him  rich. 
He  was  a student,  all  his  days,  a great  reader,  an  inventor, 
always  devising  new  means  for  doing  a thing  better  than  by  the 
old  way.  His  leading  aim  in  life  was  to  benefit  others  rather 
than  self ; to  promote  the  welfare  of  humanity.  The  only 
wealth  he  possessed  was  the  wealth  of  a bounteous  intellect;  a 
great  love  for  nature ; and  a mind  rich  with  the  blessings  of  life 
for  others.  He  was  a sower  of  seeds  that  he  did  not  live  long 
enough  to  behold  in  full  fruitage,  if,  indeed,  he  did  to  know 
that,  in  some  cases,  they  had  even  germinated.  The  motto  on 
his  book-plate  was : ‘Prove  all  things,  hold  fast  that  which  is 
good.’  It  may  well  become  the  motto  of  those  scientific  inves- 
tigators who  work  in  the  laboratories  of  this  building. 


i5 


When  it  became  known  that  the  proceeds  from  the  sale  of 
the  land-script  of  210,000  acres  of  the  public  lands  would  come 
to  this  State  for  the  establishment  of  what  was  then  called  an 
agricultural  and  industrial  college,  great  interest  became  cen- 
tered in  the  new  institution  and  the  public  discussion  of  its 
character.  It  was  a subject  to  which  Dr  Holmes  had  given 
great  study.  He  knew  it  through  and  through,  in  all  its  bear- 
ings and  especially  in  connection  with  its  relations  to  our  own 
conditions  and  the  wants  of  our  people.  Between  the  passage 
of  the  land-grant  act  by  Congress  in  1862  to  its  final  settlement 
by  our  state  legislature  in  1865,  Dr.  Holmes  had,  through  the 
columns  of  his  paper,  said  a great  deal  to  enlighten  the  people 
of  Maine  upon  the  real  importance  of  the  proposed  institution. 
In  this  way  he  had  succeeded  in  bringing  about  a remarkable 
degree  of  unanimity  in  the  views  both  of  the  agriculturists  and 
the  legislators  regarding  its  character.  He  had  always  insisted 
that  it  should  be  an  independent,  separate  college,  or  as  he 
often  expressed  it,  ‘a  tub  on  its  own  bottom/  At  the  same 
time,  especially  during  the  last  year  of  its  public  consideration 
by  the  legislature  after  it  had  accepted  the  terms  of  Congress 
and  before  its  final  disposition  at  the  session  of  1865,  various 
attempts  had  been  made,  which  were  urged  with  great  force 
and  pertinacity,  towards  merging  the  proposed  college  either 
with  Bowdoin  or  Waterville,  or  of  attaching  it  in  some  way  to 
one  or  the  other  or  in  part  to  both. 

“This  plan  at  one  time  gained  much  support.  The  friends  of 
both  Waterville  and  Bowdoin  colleges  spared  no  effort  in  press- 
ing their  claims  before  the  state  legislature.  They  saw  that  the 
money  from  the  land-script,  could  they  secure  it,  or  even  could 
each  secure  one-half  of  it,  would  mean  a new  lease  of  life  to 
them  and  enable  them  to  greatly  strengthen  their  own  denomi- 
national colleges  with  the  members  of  each  religious  sect. 

“To  all  such  attempts  Dr.  Holmes  set  his  face  like  a flint.  Not 
only  through  his  paper  did  he  combat  their  arguments,  but 
again  and  again  did  he  appear  before  legislative  committees  and 
lay  before  them  his  long-considered  and  carefully  matured  views 
upon  a subject  to  which  he  had  not  only  given  deep  thought, 
but  which  had  been  taught  by  practical  experience,  especially 
when  connected  with  the  Gardiner  Lyceum  forty  years  before. 


i6 


“At  times  it  appeared  as  though  the  advocates  of  a union  of 
the  new  college  with  one  of  the  already  existing  colleges  would 
carry  their  argument  with  the  legislature.  They  appeared 
before  the  committee  several  times  in  the  early  part  of  the  ses- 
sion of  1865.  They  made  a strong  point  of  the  fact  that  they 
had  already  buildings,  dormitories,  libraries  and  other  equip- 
ments, and  that  with  slight  expense  for  enlargement  they  could 
save  the  State  the  great  expense  of  erecting  new  buildings,  while 
they  were  all  ready  to  take  the  added  classes  which  a new  col- 
lege could  not  do  for  some  years  to  come.  Waterville  was  rep- 
resented by  its  president,  Dr.  James  T.  Champlain,  while  Bow- 
doin  appeared  through  its  president,  Dr.  Leonard  Woods  and 
Prof.  William  Smyth,  the  eminent  mathematician,  father  of  the 
late  Prof.  Egbert  C.  Smyth  of  Andover,  and  Dr.  Newman 
Smyth  of  New  Haven.  There  was,  indeed,  great  danger  of 
their  success. 

“At  this  juncture  Dr.  Holmes  renewed  his  canvass  with 
doubled  force.  The  friends  of  the  new  college  and  his  own 
personal  friends  urged  him  to  make  the  great  argument  of  his 
life.  He  entered  into  the  final  combat  before  the  committee 
with  all  the  strength  and  ability  his  life  had  given  him.  He 
centered  on  this  one  act  all  his  energies.  His  friends  who  knew 
him  best  knew  that  he  was  never  so  strong  as  when  opposed  by 
a great  antagonist  or  stirred  to  the  height  of  his  eloquence  by 
the  presence  of  some  great  wrong.  On  this  occasion  he  deemed 
that  he  saw  in  it  the  consummation  of  his  desire  for  the  present 
and  the  realization  of  his  hopes  for  the  future.  He  guarded 
every  avenue  of  approach  to  the  fund  given  by  Congress  to  the 
State  with  jealous  care,  like  an  eagle  sentinel  on  some  lofty 
height,  and  woe  to  the  hands  that  would  divert  it  from  its 
legitimate  purpose  or  clutch  the  prize  for  their  own ! 

The  final  hearing  had  been  fixed  for  February  2,  1865.  The 
plea  of  Bowdoin’s  men  had  been  logically  stated,  their  claims  set 
up,  its  advantages  fully  formulated  and  left  with  the  committee. 
It  came  the  moment  for  Ezekiel  Holmes  to  reply.  As  he  arose 
to  speak  his  eyebrows  knit,  his  lips  contracted.  In  an  analysis 
of  the  whole  subject,  clear  and  luminous  as  his  own  thought, 
he  showed  what  he  deemed  would  be  a gross  injustice  to  the 
industrial  classes  of  Maine  if  the  National  gift  was  diverted 
from  its  original  purpose;  if  the  State  should  vote  to  connect 


i7 


the  proposed  college  with  any  existing  institution;  if  the  clear 
purpose  of  the  act  of  Congress  could  not  be  carried  out  to  the 
letter:  ‘One  college,  the  leading  purpose  of  which  should  be 
the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes/ 
Warming  with  his  subject,  his  countenance  all  aglow  with  the 
eloquence  of  his  soul,  his  eye  lighted  with  a view  of  the  present 
and  with  visions  of  the  multitudes,  reaching  far  into  the  future, 
of  those  who  should  seek  your  doors,  whose  champion  he  now 
was,  he  drew  himself  up  to  his  fullest  stature,  his  whole  frame 
quivering  with  emotion,  and  throwing  back  his  head  with  the 
right  arm  extended,  he  said : ‘And  now  I say  to  you,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, that  the  farmers  of  Maine,  after  having  desired  this 
opportunity  for  their  advancement  so  long,  and  hoped  for  it  so 
long,  and  prayed  for  it  so  long,  and  waited  for  it  so  long  do  not 
intend  to  sell  their  birthright  for  a mess  of  pottage/ 

“Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  I see  him  now  as  I saw  him 
then,  addressing  that  committee  in  Representative  Hall  in  the 
State  House — the  hall  crowded  upon  every  inch  of  its  floors  and 
its  galleries ; and  I hear  the  sound  of  those  cheers  to  the  echo 
which  followed  his  closing  words — the  recollection  of  which 
will  remain  a vivid  picture  while  time  and  reason  last.  The 
scene  was  historic  and  worthy  a painting  by  some  master  hand 
which  should  hang  upon  your  walls  forever. 

“That  was  his  last  act.  It  was  the  last  time  his  voice  was  ever 
heard  or  his  person  seen  in  public.  In  just  one  week  he  had 
joined  the  inhabitants  of  that  eternal  city  beyond  our  sight, 
whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 

“That  is  why  the  University  of  Maine  exists  today  as  an  inde- 
pendent institution  and  not  as  some  dwarfed,  feeble,  disjointed 
annex  to  an  old  scholastic  college.  Do  you  not  think  it  time 
that  your  trustees  recognize  the  services  of  such  a man?  Do 
you  think  I over-eulogize  this  friend  of  your  University,  when  I 
call  him  its  real  founder? 

“It  was  a dark  period  for  the  friends  of  this  institution  and 
for  its  future  when  Ezekiel  Holmes  died.  The  legislature,  to 
be  sure,  had  decided  that  the  college  to  be  founded  should  be  a 
new  one  in  accordance  with  the  act  of  Congress  making  the 
endowment.  So  much  had  been  gained.  That  long  contest 
would  not  have  to  be  repeated.  He  to  whom  its  friends  had 
looked,  however,  to  organize  the  institution,  to  define  its  scope, 


i8 


to  mark  out  its  course,  to  arrange  its  studies,  who  knew  the 
whole  subject  better  than  any  man  in  Maine — he  had  been  taken 
from  among  them.  They  had  followed  him  in  this  great 
scheme  for  the  liberal  and  scientific  education  of  the  masses 
because  he  comprehended  the  problem  better  than  themselves. 
They  did  not  know  where  he  was  to  land  them  in  its  develop- 
ment, but  they  had  learned  to  trust  him  from  long  experience. 
They  knew  in  whatsoever  plan  he  had  it  was  only  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  people — that  no  personal  end  was  to  be  gratified  and 
no  selfish  advantage  obtained.  In  the  past  they  had  followed 
him  under  similar  conditions,  blindly  to  themselves  because  he 
was  guided  by  a light  of  which  they  knew  not.  So  they  believed 
it  was  in  this  case  and  that  the  result  would  be  all  they  desired. 
P'ortunately  his  outline  of  the  college  had  been  so  well  given 
in  his  speeches  and  in  the  published  articles  in  his  paper,  that 
the  original  and  succeeding  boards  of  trustees,  by  carrying  out 
his  plan,  builded  for  this  University  in  its  early  days  better  than 
they  knew. 

“Dr.  Holmes’s  death  was  announced  in  the  legislature,  resolu- 
tions adopted  and  an  eulogy  spoken  by  Hon.  John  L.  Stevens. 
Later  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and 
an  eulogy  pronounced  in  Representatives’  Hall  by  Senator 
French.  Leading  journals  of  the  country  spoke  of  his  decease 
with  sentiments  of  the  highest  respect  for  his  character.  Secre- 
tary Goodale  said  of  him : ‘We  owe  a debt  of  gratitude  to  our 
late  beloved  friend.  The  good  seed  so  liberally  scattered  by  his 
unselfish  hand  is  not  lost.  It  has  borne  fruit — it  shall  yet  bear 
fuller  harvests.  While  his  ashes  rest  in  peace  let  us  hope 
that  his  highest  aspirations,  which  were  ever  more  for 
others  than  for  himself  or  for  his  own  may  be  fully 
realized.’  Senator  French  in  closing  his  eulogy  said:  ‘The 
unfinished  temple  of  knowledge  rises  before  you;  the  people 
stand  on  its  broad  platform.  Build  it  as  he  builded,  till  its 
pillared  dome  shall  pierce  the  clouds  and  everlasting  sunlight 
play  around  its  summit.  And  when  the  teeming  multitudes 
yet  to  be  shall  crowd  its  courts  to  worship  at  its  shrine,  they 
shall  see  written  on  a fair  stone,  conspicuous  among  earth’s 
honored  and  illustrious  ones,  whose  fame  covers  its  walls  within 
and  without,  from  foundation  course  to  topmost  stone  the  name 
of  Ezekiel  Holmes.’ 


i9 


“In  the  pretty  village  cemetery  of  Winthrop,  within  sight  of 
where  he  spent  his  life,  stands  a monument  erected  through  the 
benevolence  of  his  townsmen  and  his  friends,  on  which  is 
inscribed : Dr.  Ezekiel  Holmes,  A.  M.,  the  founder  of  agricul- 
tural science  in  Maine;  died  in  peace,  Feb.  9,  1865,  aged  64 
years.  His  motto  was : Our  Home,  Our  Country,  and  Our 
Brother  Man. 

“Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  trustees : I present  to  this 
University,  in  behalf  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Benson  Holmes,  a portrait 
of  Dr.  Ezekiel  Holmes  at  the  age  of  31  years.” 


